Phantom Dust was an Xbox game that merged card-collecting with arena combat. Although it was fairly well received (especially in Japan), it never took off, becoming a cult classic of sorts. Microsoft had announced a reboot at 2014’s e3, but it ended up being cancelled. Fortunately Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer and lead developer Yukio Futatsugi still had love for the series, and therefore an HD remaster of the game for Xbox One and PC was announced at last year’s E3. While information about the re-release was scarce, Microsoft Game Studios guaranteed that the game would be released before e3, and lo and behold, MS stayed true to its word. Not only that, Phantom Dust is free! The game contains a single player story mode, Xbox Live Anywhere, and a starter deck for multiplayer, so fans can jump into multiplayer right from the get-go (rather than having to unlock cards like in the original Xbox game). Hopefully a second lease on life for this game will allow it to gain the audience it deserves, or better yet, lead to another attempt at a reboot. Expect to see more about the game on an upcoming $20 Game of the Week.

Okay, this is getting out of hand.

2003’s Voodoo Vince was an above average 2003 Xbox platformer that was fairly well received. Unfortunantely it was lost to time when it failed to become one of the games backwardly compatible on Xbox 360. However, Clayton Kauzlaric’s Beep games is bringing a remaster to Xbox One/Windows 10 in early 2017. This is getting out of hand. Then again is Turok can be remastered, then why not? Maybe next we’ll see an HD remaster of Blinx The Time Sweeper.

Fans of the old school Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series will want to take a look at this. Developed by Bamtang and published by Namco Bandai, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle is a multiplayer action brawler for up to 4 players. The game will feature cutscenes, monsters, and dialogue based on the original series, and will also feature unlockable characters. The game will be coming to Xbox One and PS4 next year. If the gameplay can keep in line with the graphics, MMPR:MB will be an excellent flashback to our childhood.

Microsoft held its press conference this morning. MS played it safe, and we didn’t see much in the way of new titles. However they did show off a few surprises and confirm several rumors floating around these past few months, particularly two new versions of the Xbox One, the Xbox One S and the Xbox One Scorpio. The former is a smaller version of the console with a build in 2TB hard drive and 4k compatibility. The later, launching sometime next year, is an upgraded version of the console, due for release in 2017. We saw more of Sea of Thieves, Scalebound, Recore, and Halo Wars 2. Of course the shows big star was the upcoming Gears of War 4. Microsoft is making windows 10 the cornerstone of PC gaming. Several upcoming Xbox One games will feature Play Anywhere, meaning if you buy the game on Xbox, you’ll get a free copy for PC, and the game will feature cross-platform play. This will include Forza Horizon 3 (which brings open-world racing to Australia), the now confirmed Dead Rising 4, the (unfortunately delayed to 2017) Crackdown, Sea of Thieves, and of course, Gears of War 4. On the third party front, we saw footage from Final Fantasy XV, Battlefield 1, and Tekken 7. The latter confirmed that not only is the game coming to Xbox One (it was previously confirmed as coming to PS4), but we’ll be getting the Fated Retribution version. (By the way, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 for Xbox 360 is free this week and is backwardly compatible with Xbox One.) CD Projekt confirmed that the popular Witcher 3 cardgame Gwent will be getting a standalone game later this year. On the independent front, we saw more of Cuphead and Below (both of which should be out any day now) as well as gameplay of We Happy Few. The recent indie hit Stardew Valley will also see an Xbox One (along with a Wii U and PS4) release in the near future. On the hardware side, Microsoft introduced new customizable controllers. Also it looks like the system may finally be getting some much-requested features, chief among them being background music, clubs, and an arena system for tournaments. Finally, while the Phantom Dust remake is still dead in the water, the original Xbox version of the game will be receiving a remastering next year. Check out the trailers below and leave us your thoughts. I’ll be back tomorrow with the Playstation and UbiSoft press confrences.
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5 years ago, Sony Online Entertainment released the free-to-play MMORPG DC Universe Online on PC and PS3. It launched alongside the PS4 as well. Since then, SOE has changed its name to Daybreak Studios, and evidently broke off ties with Sony. To that end, they figured why not share the wealth and allow Xbox One players to get in on the comic book based action. For the uninitiated, DC Universe Online allows characters to create an original character, and join one of 6 major DC heroes and villains and tackle a series of quests all around the DC Universe. There is plenty enough content on its own, however players can spend extra dime on various add-ons such as expansions and new powersets. Also, PS4 players will be able to play alongside PC gamers, and the game will receive a new episode based on DC’s upcoming Legends of Tomorrow tv series. You can learn more about the upcoming features as the game celebrates its 5-year anniversary here.

This past week, Microsoft had a showing at Gamescom in Germany, showing off things you didn’t see at E3. Quantum Break (which had been shown since E3 2013), Crackdown (which had been hinted at since E3 2013) and Platinum Game’s Scalebound (which was shown off at last year’s E3) along with a few surprises. While most of the cool stuff isn’t coming out til 2016, there was plenty at the show for Xbox Owners to look forward too.
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During game 5 of the NBA playoffs last night, Bethesda held their big pre-E3 press conference. While there were few surprises (indeed, Dishonored 2 was suspected to have been leaked a few nights prior), there was some amazing stuff on display. This morning, Microsoft held their press conference. While many could guess their lineup, Microsoft had a few big surprises as well.

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No, you’re not going crazy. This is still the Famicom Dojo Podcast feed, but we wanted to share this one-off Powetcast reunion. (Although, warning: this episode is explicit.) Sean gathers (most of) the old Powet.TV crew to discuss the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the next-gen video game systems we’re playing, 30 years of Transformers, 50 years of Doctor Who, and which comics are still worth reading.

Listen to more great podcasts:

• No Topic Required
  with Zac and Adam.
• Famicom Dojo Video Game Podcast
  with Sean and Vinnk.
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy POWETcast
  with Sean.